Homemade black powder

[preparehandbook]

Rocketeers do buy their engines, but there's also a whole hobby that revolves around building motors (some are called sugar rockets). I went to one of their events and they had a presentation on making engines, even one's made out of crushed candy bars (and other stuff).

Same thing for reenactors, went to a thing (hoedown? powow?) and they were making several kinds of powder and rolling shot etc. They actually demonstrated the effects of open air combustion of blackpowder during their safety demonstration, along with friction and static detonation.

I have less than zero desire to try any of this. I'm grateful I survived college chemistry in the era of metallic sodium and triiodide with all my fingers. I'm just saying if someone wants to try it they should seek out folks who are familiar with the laws and safety of hobby manufacture of blackpowder.

[ReloaderEd]

Gentlemen: A very dangerous hobby. The problem with BP is it burns completely because it is at its flash point. That means one oz of it will be consumed at fast as a pound or a ton of it. Static electricity can set it off quite easily. If you confine it in a storage locker that is sealed be careful you can lose your entire dwelling.
Dupont in West Virginia made alot of blasing powder and black powder for cannons and rifles. Ocee the ingrediatns were mized together, they were wet down and made into cakes which were dried usually in the sun. Then put in wooden barrel tumblers with lead balls inside to break the cakes up into granuals and sifted for size. It was still a very dangerous process. It like putting nitro on stage coaches back then not knowing it reaches a flast point at a low warm or hot outside temperatures. Be safe, think about it!!

[waksupi]

Static electricity can set it off quite easily.

You may want to look at this, and reconsider that statement.

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_...ks/sparks.html

[square butte]

I was just about to post the same link. Lots of misconception about black powder and static electricity.

[EOD3]

You may want to look at this, and reconsider that statement.

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_...ks/sparks.html

I think Ed might consider deleting the post before too many people see it.

[EOD3]

Hi fellas, as long as were talking about home made black, do any of you know a guy named Don McLean? He wrote a book called "Do-it-yourself gunpowder cookbook"

[cal50]

I have made some BP in the past that performed better than the Goex & Elephant brands I have used. The key to good BP is the charcoal and ball milling and pressing properly is a must.
I have a very good ball mill that I milled my KNO3 for 3 hours,add sulfur mill another hour then add charcoal and mill a final hour. All 3 ingredients were milled fine before starting the milling process. Once you powder is milled similar to black flour you have to press it to obtain the same density as commercial powder. I used a press die from 3" PVC with pipe clamps and my hydraulic shop press. Once pressed and out of the die it sounds like china. Let it dry then you have to "corn" the powder and sift it for granule size.

The fastest powder comes from low density charcoal. Balsa, willow,grape vine make some FAST BP powder. I have cooked my own willow charcoal and its messy but fun.

Some good reads-

http://www.fogoforum.us/blackpowder.php

http://www.wichitabuggywhip.com/fire...ackpowder.html


Have fun and be safe.
With the increased cost of powder rolling your own is a nice option and a fun project.

[delmar]

Hi fellas, as long as were talking about home made black, do any of you know a guy named Don McLean? He wrote a book called "Do-it-yourself gunpowder cookbook"

Didn't he sing "American Pie"?

[Linstrum]

Hey, Ric, thanks for posting the site with the spark experiment photos. I have really gotten into it with some guys in the local gun shop over this. I don't blame them for being adamant that static sparks will ignite powder because it sure seems like it would.

rl876

[preparehandbook]

Hey, Ric, thanks for posting the site with the spark experiment photos. I have really gotten into it with some guys in the local gun shop over this. I don't blame them for being adamant that static sparks will ignite powder because it sure seems like it would.rl876

I would have guessed it would, and undoubtably would have argued such before seeing that test. A test which I I have no desire to replicate..

[Bert2368]

Reloader Ed, you might REALLY want to delete that last post. Every darn bit of it.

I handle BP by the ton, mostly as fireworks lifting and burst charges. I have studied the history of the craft and I have made it from scratch, including making my own charcoals, even tried old fashioned methods of extracting nitrates from my compost pile and synthesizing/purifying salt petre from them.

Pre industrial peasants made their own BP in many countries for centuries. With the beginning of modern scientific methods, mixtures and performance were finally optimized in the 1800's. A good bit of that relates to consolidation and graining.

Cal50 and EOD3 know wherof they speak. It is quite possible for a person with some knowledge and experience to make high performance BP for themselves. What will be much more difficult will be making a uniform product from batch to batch, but BP is more forgiving in this regard than smokeless-

And yes, making and handling BP carries certain risks. Stupidity, clumsiness or ignorance will amplify those risks.

As far as BATFE is concerned, you can make and use your own explosives if you don't sell, give away or otherwise distribute them and they are stored legally. Storage will likely be your main issue. State and local laws are a different matter, you'll have to work that out on your own!

[cal50]

Gentlemen: A very dangerous hobby. The problem with BP is it burns completely because it is at its flash point. That means one oz of it will be consumed at fast as a pound or a ton of it. Static electricity can set it off quite easily. If you confine it in a storage locker that is sealed be careful you can lose your entire dwelling.
Dupont in West Virginia made alot of blasing powder and black powder for cannons and rifles. Ocee the ingrediatns were mized together, they were wet down and made into cakes which were dried usually in the sun. Then put in wooden barrel tumblers with lead balls inside to break the cakes up into granuals and sifted for size. It was still a very dangerous process. It like putting nitro on stage coaches back then not knowing it reaches a flast point at a low warm or hot outside temperatures. Be safe, think about it!!

Confined powder fires will usually rupture the enclosure which causes the blast effect (if enough powder is present). Black powder transfers fire quickly and that made it an excellent priming charge for navy shells or fuse assys. Its safe to handle with common sense and caution. Careless people will have an accident.

I vaguely remember the BP plant explosion. If I remember correctly it was the corning mill area where it initiated. Corning is the most hazardous operation in BP production. The fine flammable dust is similar to black flour and VERY flammable. I still have a can of Elephant brand 4F. It's similar to corning mill dust. I also made BP rocket motors a long time ago. Core burning engines need a slower BP than end burners. Adjusting the sulfur content, milling time, KNO3 quality and the most important ingredient charcoal and you can change the burning rate considerably with one variable.

I got fancy and graphite coated a batch and you could not honestly tell it from Goex. Using a slug weight and doing lift tests my powder performed better than the Goex. I have a Quiegly 45-90 that I would love to try my BP in . I just cant believe the prices for a LB of BP now.

[EOD3]

Cal50 briefly mentions one of the ways to time-travel using BP. If you are doing ANYTHING that results in dust suspended in the air, one static electricity spark will ruin your whole day. This is true with any flammable dust particles. Flammable extends to a lot of stuff you wouldn't think would burn. Silo launching (grain dust) used to be fairly common. Back in the dark ages, connecting a ground wire to containers of BP (or other fine grain propellant) was absolutely mandatory. Dust in motion creates an incredible static charge.

Black powder "burns" rapidly but does not detonate. You get an explosion when the gas produced by the burning powder exceeds the capacity of its container. This kind of explosion is referred to as a "mechanical detonation".

Every once in a while someone proved this, and the friction sensitivity characteristics by leaving a couple of grains in the threads and screwing on the end-cap...

[texasmac]

[cal50]

Dust explosions are impressive. Silo's , flour mills and my grand mother coal stove when I stoked it up WAY too much and the black cloud of coal dust flashed. I was about 11 years old and I remember it like yesterday.